NASA puts Atlantis on path to retirement

Atlantis facts

Official designation: OV-104Number of flights to date: 26Days in space: 220.4Miles traveled: 89,908,732

CAPE CANAVERAL - Atlantis will be the first of NASA's three space shuttles to be retired, most likely in 2008, as the shuttle program winds down in four years and is replaced by the Crew Exploration Vehicle.

Atlantis' parts will be used by the remaining shuttles, Discovery and Endeavour, until the aging spacecraft are mothballed in 2010, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told workers at the Kennedy Space Center.

Atlantis, which began flying in 1985, was chosen for retirement first since it was set for maintenance, a process that could take two years. The $3billion shuttle likely will have four or five more flights to the International Space Station before retirement.

But the entire program is unsettled. Technical problems have raised questions about whether Discovery will be prepared to return to flight in May.

"The reasoning (for the retirement) is instead of taking it off-line for two years and spending a lot of money to return it to flight when it probably would fly only one time at the most, why spend that extra money, when you don't need to?" NASA spokesman Bruce Buckingham said.

NASA has planned 17 more shuttle flights before the program ends in 2010. The next-generation Crew Exploration Vehicles are expected to be ready no later than 2014. NASA Ames Research Center near San Francisco is preparing its wind tunnel to perform tests a small-scale model of the CEV.

Most of the nearly 15,000 NASA and contractor employees at the space center work on the shuttle program, but they likely will be unaffected by the retirement of Atlantis, Buckingham said.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.